From the Earth to the Moon: 25: Final Details (thing)

Chapter XXV: Final Details

It was the 22nd of November; the departure was to take place in
ten days. One operation alone remained to be accomplished to bring
all to a happy termination; an operation delicate and perilous,
requiring infinite precautions, and against the success of which
Captain Nicholl had laid his third bet. It was, in fact, nothing
less than the loading of the Columbiad, and the introduction into
it of 400,000 pounds of gun-cotton. Nicholl had thought, not
perhaps without reason, that the handling of such formidable
quantities of pyroxyle would, in all probability, involve a grave
catastrophe; and at any rate, that this immense mass of eminently
inflammable matter would inevitably ignite when submitted to the
pressure of the projectile.

There were indeed dangers accruing as before from the
carelessness of the Americans, but Barbicane had set his heart on
success, and took all possible precautions. In the first place, he
was very careful as to the transportation of the gun-cotton to
Stones Hill. He had it conveyed in small quantities, carefully
packed in sealed cases. These were brought by rail from Tampa Town
to the camp, and from thence were taken to the Columbiad by
barefooted workmen, who deposited them in their places by means of
cranes placed at the orifice of the cannon. No steam-engine was
permitted to work, and every fire was extinguished within two miles
of the works.

Even in November they feared to work by day, lest the
sun’s rays acting on the gun-cotton might lead to unhappy
results. This led to their working at night, by light produced in a
vacuum by means of Ruhmkorff’s apparatus, which threw an
artificial brightness into the depths of the Columbiad. There the
cartridges were arranged with the utmost regularity, connected by a
metallic thread, destined to communicate to them all simultaneously
the electric spark, by which means this mass of gun-cotton was
eventually to be ignited.

By the 28th of November eight hundred cartridges had been placed
in the bottom of the Columbiad. So far the operation had been
successful! But what confusion, what anxieties, what struggles were
undergone by President Barbicane! In vain had he refused admission
to Stones Hill; every day the inquisitive neighbors scaled the
palisades, some even carrying their imprudence to the point of
smoking while surrounded by bales of gun-cotton. Barbicane was in a
perpetual state of alarm. J. T. Maston seconded him to the best of
his ability, by giving vigorous chase to the intruders, and
carefully picking up the still lighted cigar ends which the Yankees
threw about. A somewhat difficult task! seeing that more than
300,000 persons were gathered round the enclosure. Michel Ardan had
volunteered to superintend the transport of the cartridges to the
mouth of the Columbiad; but the president, having surprised him
with an enormous cigar in his mouth, while he was hunting out the
rash spectators to whom he himself offered so dangerous an example,
saw that he could not trust this fearless smoker, and was therefore
obliged to mount a special guard over him.

At last, Providence being propitious, this wonderful loading
came to a happy termination, Captain Nicholl’s third bet
being thus lost. It remained now to introduce the projectile into
the Columbiad, and to place it on its soft bed of gun-cotton.

But before doing this, all those things necessary for the
journey had to be carefully arranged in the projectile vehicle.
These necessaries were numerous; and had Ardan been allowed to
follow his own wishes, there would have been no space remaining for
the travelers. It is impossible to conceive of half the things this
charming Frenchman wished to convey to the moon. A veritable stock
of useless trifles! But Barbicane interfered and refused admission
to anything not absolutely needed. Several thermometers,
barometers, and telescopes were packed in the instrument case.

The travelers being desirous of examing the moon carefully
during their voyage, in order to facilitate their studies, they
took with them Boeer and Moeller’s excellent Mappa
Selenographica, a masterpiece of patience and observation, which
they hoped would enable them to identify those physical features in
the moon, with which they were acquainted. This map reproduced with
scrupulous fidelity the smallest details of the lunar surface which
faces the earth; the mountains, valleys, craters, peaks, and ridges
were all represented, with their exact dimensions, relative
positions, and names; from the mountains Doerfel and Leibnitz on
the eastern side of the disc, to the Mare frigoris of the North
Pole.

They took also three rifles and three fowling-pieces, and a
large quantity of balls, shot, and powder.

“We cannot tell whom we shall have to deal with,”
said Michel Ardan. “Men or beasts may possibly object to our
visit. It is only wise to take all precautions.”

These defensive weapons were accompanied by pickaxes, crowbars,
saws, and other useful implements, not to mention clothing adapted
to every temperature, from that of polar regions to that of the
torrid zone.

Ardan wished to convey a number of animals of different sorts,
not indeed a pair of every known species, as he could not see the
necessity of acclimatizing serpents, tigers, alligators, or any
other noxious beasts in the moon. “Nevertheless,” he
said to Barbicane, “some valuable and useful beasts,
bullocks, cows, horses, and donkeys, would bear the journey very
well, and would also be very useful to us.”

“I dare say, my dear Ardan,” replied the president,
“but our projectile-vehicle is no Noah’s ark, from
which it differs both in dimensions and object. Let us confine
ourselves to possibilities.”

After a prolonged discussion, it was agreed that the travelers
should restrict themselves to a sporting-dog belonging to Nicholl,
and to a large Newfoundland. Several packets of seeds were also
included among the necessaries. Michel Ardan, indeed, was anxious
to add some sacks full of earth to sow them in; as it was, he took
a dozen shrubs carefully wrapped up in straw to plant in the
moon.

The important question of provisions still remained; it being
necessary to provide against the possibility of their finding the
moon absolutely barren. Barbicane managed so successfully, that he
supplied them with sufficient rations for a year. These consisted
of preserved meats and vegetables, reduced by strong hydraulic
pressure to the smallest possible dimensions. They were also
supplied with brandy, and took water enough for two months, being
confident, from astronomical observations, that there was no lack
of water on the moon’s surface. As to provisions, doubtless
the inhabitants of the earth would find nourishment somewhere in
the moon. Ardan never questioned this; indeed, had he done so, he
would never have undertaken the journey.

“Besides,” he said one day to his friends, “we
shall not be completely abandoned by our terrestrial friends; they
will take care not to forget us.”

“No, indeed!” replied J. T. Maston.

“Nothing would be simpler,” replied Ardan;
“the Columbiad will be always there. Well! whenever the moon
is in a favorable condition as to the zenith, if not to the
perigee, that is to say about once a year, could you not send us a
shell packed with provisions, which we might expect on some
appointed day?”

“I shall reckon upon you! Then, you see, we shall receive
news regularly from the earth, and we shall indeed be stupid if we
hit upon no plan for communicating with our good friends
here!”

These words inspired such confidence, that Michel Ardan carried
all the Gun Club with him in his enthusiasm. What he said seemed so
simple and so easy, so sure of success, that none could be so
sordidly attached to this earth as to hesitate to follow the three
travelers on their lunar expedition.

All being ready at last, it remained to place the projectile in
the Columbiad, an operation abundantly accompanied by dangers and
difficulties.

The enormous shell was conveyed to the summit of Stones Hill.
There, powerful cranes raised it, and held it suspended over the
mouth of the cylinder.

It was a fearful moment! What if the chains should break under
its enormous weight? The sudden fall of such a body would
inevitably cause the gun-cotton to explode!

Fortunately this did not happen; and some hours later the
projectile-vehicle descended gently into the heart of the cannon
and rested on its couch of pyroxyle, a veritable bed of explosive
eider-down. Its pressure had no result, other than the more
effectual ramming down of the charge in the Columbiad.

“I have lost,” said the captain, who forthwith paid
President Barbicane the sum of three thousand dollars.

Barbicane did not wish to accept the money from one of his
fellow-travelers, but gave way at last before the determination of
Nicholl, who wished before leaving the earth to fulfill all his
engagements.

“Now,” said Michel Ardan, “I have only one
thing more to wish for you, my brave captain.”

“What is that?” asked Nicholl.

“It is that you may lose your two other bets! Then we
shall be sure not to be stopped on our journey!”